FIrst Rule of Movie Club is: you don't talk about Movie Club. But you do share, because sharing is caring.
A classic Bud Dry commercial from the 80's rhetorically asks "Why are foreign movies so... foreign?" while it throws as many tropes as possible on screen: poorly dubbed Italian, grainy black and white film, odd angles, melodramatic acting, and, of course... clowns. And while that particular reference is clearly Fellini, its point- and the point … Continue reading Dáblova Past (The Devil’s Trap)
Nina Menkes is not a well known filmmaker, unless you're really involved in the world of Art Films, in which case you know how praised she is as someone who pushes the boundaries of narrative cinema. Phantom Love made big splashes in that small, but important world- a story about Lulu, a woman who is … Continue reading Phantom Love
Ah, Peter Greenaway- excepting Matthew Barney, he is the most "Art Film" ish Art Filmmaker in the history of Art Films, an obsessive formalist and painter who manages to convert his passions into esoteric, but somehow completely fascinating, works of art on the moving screen. If you've seen his work- from his biggest commercial success, … Continue reading The Early Films of Peter Greenaway (Part 1)
When I say "Jim Henson," you say.... Kermit, or Miss Piggy, or Ernie & Bert, or probably one of a hundred memorable characters he created out of felt and foam. What you probably won't say is "a trippy, artsy filmmaker exploring the boundaries of his medium." But that's what Henson was, too- especially in his … Continue reading The Cube
In the tradition of minimalist neo-realism comes this unlikely contender from Costa Rica: Alexandra Latishev Salazar's Medea, a film that eschews exposition and just throws you in the middle of its fiercely independent protagonist's life, no context, no three act structure, just a straight-up fly-on-the wall front row seat into this young woman's life. And … Continue reading Medea
How do you conclude a cycle of art films as infamous as that of Cremaster? With the most opulent and lavish one of all, of course. Matthew Barney's Cremaster 3 is three hours of visual insanity, complete with an Irish giant, prohibition-era pubs, foot-potato cutting, the Chrysler Building, a showdown between hardcore bands Agnostic Front … Continue reading Cremaster 3
The fourth installment of this rapidly evolving series is also the first one shot in HD, with a lot more money, displaying another step forward in Barney's command of his visual craft: the images are slicker, more gorgeous, more tactile, more emotionally charged as they push their abstract narrative forward. It's also the first installment … Continue reading Cremaster 2
Matthew Barney's third installment of the Cremaster Cycle (yes, #5 is the third) is basically an opera. Much like his excruciatingly long (but somehow still worthwhile) River of Fundament, there is no dialogue- only music. Ursula Andress "stars" (if that's the correct word) in this assembly of images: man on horse, underwater fairy women, man … Continue reading Cremaster 5
Matthew Barney's second entry into the Cremaster Cycle is #1, a forty-minute romp through the rituals of Americana... and sex. The biological act of sex is never far from Barney's mind. Like David Lynch, Barney has a fascination with the post WWII United States from which he came, regurgitating his childhood nostalgia with an ironic … Continue reading Cremaster 1
Putting the "A" in "Art Film," Matthew Barney's The Cremaster Cycle is a series of five feature films that you will either consider to be brilliant art or self-indulgent dribble, depending on your tolerance of non-narrative, "experimental" work. I don't quite fit in either camp ("brilliant" is pushing it a bit) but Barney's juxtaposed visuals … Continue reading Cremaster 4
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